Bracelet



E. A. COOMBS BRACELET March 29, 1927. 0

\ Filed Jan. 1, 1925 INVENTOR .E'dwardfl. Coon 65.

ATTORN m Patented Mar. 29, 1927. '1

UNIT ED A. CQQMBS, OF PLAINVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR' 'I'O WI- IITING CHAIN COMPANY, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

BRACELET.

Application filed January 21, 1926. Serial No. 82,643.

This invention relates to the. manufacture ofqarticles of jewelry, and has to do particularly With the manufacture of bead bracelets.

It has been proposed to manufacture bead bracelets by stringing. the, beads. upon a threador Wire which encircles the wrist or arm'offthe wearer. character, there is a constant possibility of breakagewhich may result in the loss of the beads. Forinstance, when thread isused, thev bracelet may be" caught. upon a, projection while itis being worn and the thread broken, and moreover as the, thread. becomes worn use, it is weakened and is liable to break when subjected to slight strain. Bracelets of this character which make use of wire upon which the beads are Strung do not possess thedesired ornamental appearance as, the wire,rendersthebracelet stiff so that it. does not conform to the contour of the wrist or armfof the wearer. The wire is liableto become bent in use, thus rendering the bracelet unsightly, and over. a period of time bending of the. wire may cause it to becomebroken. These objectionsto bracelets of this character are morepronounced where the bracelets, consist of a number of. strands of beads whichencircle thefar'm and. a num ber ofithreadsor wires are used. Bracelets are. usually provided with fastening means by which the ends of the bracelet may be secured together, and it is; desirable that the fastening means be of such a nature as to positively lock the ends of the. bracelet to;

gether when it is being worn.

This invention is directed to the provision of a bracelet which overcomes these objections, and whichis of such construction that it is not, subject to breakage in ordinary usage and which at the same time possesses the ornamental appearance desiredin bead bracelets and readily conforms to the contour of the arm of the wearer. The bracelet of this invention is provided with fastening means which positively locks the ends together so that the bracelet will not come apart while being worn. a

The embodiment of the invention which I prefer to employ consists of bead chains disposed in spaced relation which encircle the arm of the wearer. Wire cross members upon which are strung one or more beads, extend across the space between the chains, and have their ends secured to the chains. The ends of the bead chains In bracelets of. this have cooperating elements of a separable fastener secured thereto by means of; a member which engages the end bead; each chain. Ornamental members may be made a part of thebracelet by dividingthe arm encircling chains into sections, and.- sethe ornamental members.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a bracelet constructed according. to the invention; Fig, 2; is an enlarged sectional view showing, a, wire cross member with beads strung thereon; Fig. 3 is a perspective View ofa member for, securing the chains to a fastener element ;v Fig. 4 is a plan view, showing a modified curing the ends of the sections tothe edges form of bracelet; Fig. 5 is a, perspective viewf of a member for securing the chains, of the modified form to a fastener or ornamental element; Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the separable fastener; Fig 7 1s a sectionalviewv taken through the fastener. elements.

Referring to the drawings the bracelet.

shown consists of head chains 1 and 2; dis,- posed. in spaced relation, and these chains are made up of hollow balls 3 connected: by dumb-bell shaped links 4. The, ends ofthe chains are secured to co-operating elements of a separable fastener, and an ornamental member 5 maybe placed midway 0fthe length of the chains with the ends of. the

ornamental; member secured to, the ends or.

the chains.

Br1dg1ng the space between the chains are w re cross members 10 upon which arestrung beads 11. The wire cross members lOhav their ends looped around. the Links trof, the

chain as .shown at 12. v The beads 11 may be but it has been found.

of any desired size, satisfactory to provide; the/beads L1 of such size, relative to thesize of the balls 3 of the chains, that the wire cross members 10 are. loopedaround every sccondconnecting link in, the chain. a

The chains 1 and 2 are secured to fastener elements, and to the ornamental member 5 by means of a tubular member 15 which is secured to the fastener elements and to the ornamental member. This member 15 comprises a strip of material with. recesses in its edges, and the material is bent into tubular form with the recesses in the edges meeting and co-operating to form apertures 16. As shown in Fig. 7 the tubular member 15 receives the end balls of the bead chains, and

the links which connect the end balls to the rest of the chain extend through the apertures 16. The co-operating elements of the fastener, and the ornamental member, have the members secured thereto in any desired manner as for instance by soldering or welding, with the apertures 16 extending away from the body of the fastener element or ornamental element in a direction to receive the end balls of the chains.

The fastener consists of a. female member with a tubular formation as shown at 20, having a longitudinal slot 21 and atransverse recess 22 extending therefrom. The male member of the fastener comprises a tubular portion 25 which tubular portion is connected to a member 15 by an extension 26. An aperture 2? is provided in the tubular portionof the male member, and this aperture is in conin'runication with a hole 28 in the extension 26. A rod is mounted for rotary movement within the tubular portion 25 of the male member, and the rod has a projection. 31 which extends out through the aperture 27 An operating handle 32 is JI'OVldQCl on one end of the rod, which hanille has a teat 33 adapted to snap into the open end 84 of the tubular member 15 which is secured to the male member.

By turning the handle 32 the rod 30 may be rotated in the tubular portion 25 to position the projection 31 in the hole 28 of the extension 26, or so that it extends out through the aperture 27 in the tubular formation 25. The portion 25 of the male me nber slides into the tubular f rmation 20 of the female member with the extension 26 lying in the longitudinal slot 21. When the members are connected the recess 22, the aperture 27 and hole 28 are in alignment. hen the members are placed together, or taken apart, the rod 30 is rotated by means of the handle to position the projection 31 in the hole 28 in the extension 26 to permit longitudinal movement of the members relative to each other. lVhen the members are together the handle 32 is moved to position the projection 31 so that it extends through the aperture 27 in the male member and the recess 22 in the female member to lock the parts together, and in this position the teat 33 snaps into the open end 34; of the member 15. In this manner the elements of the separable fastener are securely locked together and accidental detachment is positively prevented.

In Figure 4c a modified form of the invention is shown, and in this form an additional number of chains 40, which encircle the arm of the wearer, are used. Cross members ll connect two of the chains, and mounted upon the cross members 11 are beads 4-2. The member for securing the ends of the chains to the elements of the fastener, or to an ornamental element is provided with additional apertures 43 for receiving the links which connect the end balls to the chains.

I claim:

1. An article of jewelry of the encircling type comprising a pin ality of pairs of chains, each of said chains consisting of hollow halls connected together by dumbbell shaped links. rigid mel'i'ibers connecting corresponding alternate links of the rei-zpectirc chains in each pair, said rigid members i'naintaining said chains in substantially parallel relation througl'iout their lengths, beads strung upon the rigid members, the lJQttUn and the rigid members filling substantially the entire portion of the space between the pairs of chains, and means for holding the pairs of chains together.

2. An article of jewelry of the encircling type comprising at least one pair of chains spaced apart, each of said chains consisting of hollow balls connected together by dumbbell shaped links, connecting members holding a pair of the chains in spaced relation, said connecting members being attached to corresponding links of the respective chains in the pair, ornamental elements carried by said connecting members, said ornamental elements and connecting members filling a major portion of the space between the chains.

3. An article of jewelry of the encircling type comprising a. pair of chains, each chain comprising hollow balls connected together by dumbbell shaped links, connecting members attached to links of the chains for bolding said chains in spaced relation, beads strung on said connecting members. said connecting members and the beads strun" thereon filling a major portion of the space be tween. the spaced chains.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature.

EDWARD A. COOMBQ. 

